What Makes a Baby and 5 other books that explain the different ways families are made
Based on how many of you have told us about it, we know a bunch of you are big fans of What Makes a Baby, one of the newer kids books out that explain conception, gestation, and birth to the 3 to 8-year-old crowd. While this book is a good one, there are a whole bevy of books out there that explain the different ways families are formed and exist.
How do you cope when your family thinks you’re not ready to have a kid?
My partner and I have been together six years, and married for two. We are finally both in steady full time (dream) jobs. We have been desperate to start a family for years. We feel that we have the stability, as well as emotional and financial resilience to do so. We are lucky enough to […]
I’ve known I was transgender since age 2
I have a hard time explaining to non-transgender people how I knew I was male from the start; I just did. I sometimes ask them, “How do you know you’re male or female?” Often, they go quiet and look stumped, because they can’t answer it either. Most people seem to just know, right? You can’t pinpoint what makes you feel that way or when exactly you realized it, can you? You likely always just knew.
A tiny, geeky, artsy, punk-y studio in Seattle
There are two big challenges here: storage room and tidiness. It’s not a very big apartment — I think it clocks in at about 425 sq. ft., and it only comes with just the closet and some poorly arranged kitchen cabinets to contain all my stuff. So most of my furniture is for the storing of things because I can’t live without making and surrounding myself with art.
5 back to school lessons learned by a LGBTQ family
We are mere weeks away from our little one returning to school. Back-to-school supply ads and lists are dominating our dining table. Conversation about which backpack to use for school, which past classmates will be in this year’s class and how we prioritize homework and soccer are taking place daily. For our family, back to school also means that our family has another opportunity to come out, be seen and expand our circle of friends. Our little man is a remarkable soon-to-be second grader. He’s curious and friendly. He’s independent and playful. And he’s proud to his two mamas.
Struggling with telling infertile friends that you’re pregnant… again
I recently found out I’m expecting my FOURTH baby. We’re getting ready to tell our family and friends, and there are two people I’ve been avoiding telling so far: my brother and my very good friend.
My brother is gay, and he and his partner keep hitting roadblocks on their journey to having a baby. My friend is struggling to conceive and has been for some time…
Where will I fit into the life of my partner-of-only-a-year’s child?
Last year I met a fabulous genderqueer person with whom I fell into bed unexpectedly one night and fell in love with almost as quickly — a person who told me in the very first hour or two of serious conversation, right before serious cuddling became serious sex, that he was planning to get pregnant and become a single mom within a year. And I surprised myself by instantly thinking “That’s interesting… where do I fit in? How can I be part of this? Who do I want to be?”
Because we’re queer and gender non-normative, we have a wonderful terrifying freedom to design our own family structure. Who will we be together? He (who just as happily goes by she) is set on being Mom or Mama or Mother to the Real Live Baby he’s growing inside him. My role is not set. Do I want to be a Dad, a Daddy, a Papa, or a Pops? Or an Uncle K or a KayPaw or just K? Do I want to be a parent or only the partner of one? And who does the Real Live Baby, and the Real Live Baby’s mother, want me to be?
Do you have any advice for becoming a surrogate?
I am very heavily considering becoming a gestational surrogate: I have had two pregnancies, of which both were a total boring cake walk and both deliveries were quick and easy. I had someone mention that I’m built for having babies, and I did enjoy being pregnant very much.